Anyone who’s gone to school (practically everyone) have likely had experience answering essay questions during exams. Unlike regular essays, you usually have to write it on the spot, where you don’t get to enjoy the benefits of drawn-out research, a good grammar software and plenty of time to compose your work.
If you’d like to maximize your chances of getting a good grade, the following guidelines are great things to keep in mind:
- Read through all essay questions carefully before answering.
- Use your time wisely. Plan out which questions to answer first, depending on the level of difficulty and the points allotted for each one.
- Underline key words from each question. That will give you a clue about where to focus your answers.
- Outline your answer in the margins before beginning to write. As with regular writing, this will help you organize your thoughts as well as accomplish the work much faster.
- Each essay answer should begin with a short thesis statement that summarizes your answer. Keep it to no more than three sentences.
- Support the thesis with references from your studies. If you can’t remember the exact details (such as dates), then rephrase your sentences so that they focus on the events or ideas, instead of the specific facts (that you can’t come up with).
- Use your key words generously, both in the thesis statement and in the body of your answer.
- Once you’re done answering all the questions, review it both for grammatical correctness and clarity.
Tags: essay writing, exam essays, impromptu essays
